India’s Best-Designed Restaurant

Trees inside and out. That’s the key design concept of Mumbai’s Tote on the Turf, a converted race course that recently won “Best New Restaurant” at this year’s Wallpaper* Design Awards.

Set up by the London design and style magazine, which is also famous for its city guides, the annual awards issue offers a pat on the back to the best in design, architecture and style globally. Categories include “Best City” (Rio de Janeiro) and “Life-Enhancer of the Year” (Apple’s iPad).

The team of international judges this year included rapper and fashion designer Pharrell Williams, British artist Marc Quinn and Italian architect and designer Mario Bellini.

The architects behind the Tote project say they were astounded by the century-old rain trees that surrounded the Mahalaxmi Race Course when they first visited it–almost more than by the complex itself, a disused colonial-era race course.

Fram Petit

The surrounding rain tree forest inspired the interior of the building.

“We wanted to extend the experience of standing under these magnificent trees...under this canopy of thinly spread leaves,” said Mumbai-based Kapil Gupta, the principal of the India branch of Serie Architects, who worked on the project with his colleague Chris Lee. Serie also have studios in London and Beijing.

With this in mind, rather than attempt to restore the site to a glorified colonial past, they rebuilt two wings of the complex with the aim of creating “a seamless transition between natural trees outside and inside the building,” said Mr. Gupta.

See-through glass doors that open into the surrounding forest was the easy part. Recreating the feel of the forest indoors–using materials like steel and glass–was the bigger challenge. To do this, the two annexes are structured around a series of tree-shaped columns in what is today Tote on the Turf’s banquet space. White columns branch out in an intricate steel structure which Mr. Gupta described as “a grove of metal trees” (which have the added value of holding up the roof).

The main building of the betting house was revamped and the forest concept reinterpreted to include faceted wooden panels that line the high ceilings of what is now the main dining area. The aim there was to give the space a “Great Gatsby feel,” said Mr. Gupta, who likened it to a “giant cellar.”

The restaurant and bar itself, which opened in September last year, is now a popular Mumbai hangout and serves a selection of tapas-sized fusion dishes, which include Indian takes on Spanish staples.

The only other Indian mention in the Wallpaper* awards was Antilla Tower, Mukesh Ambani’s billion-dollar family house in Mumbai. The category? Biggest home.